Most Milwaukee residents support Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to expand the Milwaukee Parental Choice and Charter School programs by opening the program to all children in Milwaukee, a recent poll said, but some experts cite the proposed expansions as an attack on public education.

The poll, conducted earlier this month by national firm OnMessage, Inc. and commissioned by School Choice Wisconsin, found that 53 percent of the Milwaukee adults polled favored the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, while 29 percent did not.

In response to the question, “Do you favor or oppose Gov. Walker’s proposal to open the Milwaukee School Choice Program to all children?,” 64 percent of participants with children under 18 were supportive, while 32 percent were opposed.

Walker’s proposal, included in the biennial budget, outlines changes to the MPCP and Charter School program including the repeal of all income eligibility requirements to receive state-funded tuition payment and placing regulations on the amount of tuition participating schools may charge, according to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction.

“Governor Walker’s budget empowers parents to make decisions about their children’s future, whether it be in a public or private institution,” Cullen Werwie, spokesperson for Walker, said in an email to The Badger Herald. “Increased competition will help improve the quality of education for all children in Milwaukee.”

Under the proposed changes, not only would more families be eligible to receive state-funded tuition payments, but the 22,500 pupil cap on enrollment would be repealed and eligibility to participate in the program would be extended to any school in Milwaukee County, according to the DOI.

Micheal Apple, the John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, said Walker’s intentions are not just the development of MPCP, but also the expansion of privatization and the influence of the private sector in education.

The extension of services that were previously limited to a largely poor population of people of color inside Milwaukee to everyone would be a radical departure from previous changes implemented in the programs, Apple said.

“There is no evidence in the U.S. that voucher schools are any better than public schools, so this is an attack on public schools,” Apple said. “It is part of a larger agenda that says private is good, public is bad.”

Apple continued that the new provisions in combination with Milwaukee’s budget crisis would cause class sizes to increase.

“The rhetoric is to increase diversity,” said Apple, “but there is no evidence that would happen.”

However, the expansions are intended to increase pupil enrollment and provide greater flexibility and accountability in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, according to the DOI.

Walker is pursuing policies that are the right thing to do to move Wisconsin forward and get Wisconsin working again, Werwie said.

The poll, commissioned by School Choice Wisconsin, a non-profit organization supportive of school vouchers and charter schools, surveyed 600 Milwaukee adults consisting of 46 percent white, 38 percent African-American and 16 percent other, matching the 2009 census estimates for the city of Milwaukee, according to OnMessage, Inc.

The poll sought to answer questions regarding the success of MPCP while measuring favor of the current program operations and support for opening the program to all children in Milwaukee County.